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Small-Plot, High-Yield Gardening: How to Grow Like a Pro, Save Money, and Eat Well by Turning Your Back (or Front or Side) Yard Into An Organic Produce Garden
Are you tired of throwing away time, energy, and money on a perfectly manicured, water-guzzling, weed-producing lawn? Are you longing to feed your family in more healthful and eco-friendly ways but shocked by organic produce prices at the grocery store? Do you fantasize about growing your own food but hesitate to take on more than you can manage?
If you answered yes to any...more
If you answered yes to any...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
February 9th 2010
by Ten Speed Press
(first published 2010)
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MCL.
I might buy this book. It's a good complement to The Square-Foot Garden, although he does not plant with quite that method. This book has more background knowledge information about soil and compost and plants, and more details about the work and time involved, including a break-down for starting slow the first year with easy plants and transplants to starting your own transplants indoors by year 3 or 4. His idea of "small plot" is still pretty large for a typical suburban yard. His primary...more
I might buy this book. It's a good complement to The Square-Foot Garden, although he does not plant with quite that method. This book has more background knowledge information about soil and compost and plants, and more details about the work and time involved, including a break-down for starting slow the first year with easy plants and transplants to starting your own transplants indoors by year 3 or 4. His idea of "small plot" is still pretty large for a typical suburban yard. His primary...more
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I read this book in preparation for my summer garden. I live in a townhouse and although we have the largest yard of any of the townhouses in our development, it’s still pretty small and partly shaded. So I want to make sure that I make the best use of the space that we do have. Although this book isn’t very personal, it’s highly readable. It doesn’t read at all like an encyclopedia like many gardening guides do. Intermingled with guides and instructions are clever tidbits and common mistakes as...more
Very informative but overly fussy, Gilbertie has written a garden manual worthy of Martha Stewart (who used to visit his garden store!).
Great features:
--detailed planting calendar including information about each vegetable
--2 pages on how to grow garlic
--garden maps for various sizes and types of gardens
He raises rabbits just for the manure--to add it to his compost/garden. I guess I raise rabbits too--maybe I should go out there and rake up their nests to get the benefit!
He did inspire me to pl...more
Great features:
--detailed planting calendar including information about each vegetable
--2 pages on how to grow garlic
--garden maps for various sizes and types of gardens
He raises rabbits just for the manure--to add it to his compost/garden. I guess I raise rabbits too--maybe I should go out there and rake up their nests to get the benefit!
He did inspire me to pl...more
Hey guys, I'm Sal and I'm going to give you a step by step guide on how to garden in a small-plot while still maintaining high-yields.
All you need is 3000 sq ft of land.
:\
Good book though, chalk full of information-
planting in succession seasonal guide,
interesting take on mulch,
great for beginners
I read this among Square Foot Gardening, as did everyone else apparently.
Sal is great with defining some key gardening terms/ideas.
I haven't honestly put any of his words into work in my own garden,...more
All you need is 3000 sq ft of land.
:\
Good book though, chalk full of information-
planting in succession seasonal guide,
interesting take on mulch,
great for beginners
I read this among Square Foot Gardening, as did everyone else apparently.
Sal is great with defining some key gardening terms/ideas.
I haven't honestly put any of his words into work in my own garden,...more
This book is kind of interesting. I'm a small-plot gardener trying to eek out maximum productivity from smallish spaces, so I though I would be crazy for this book in the same way I am about all those small space/urban gardening books. While this book has some interesting ideas, the author is kind of a hateful jerk. I mean, he hates a lot of stuff. Like, "Here are eleventy thousand ways you are a moron for using mulch and all the reasons why, except for this one particular way that I recommend a...more
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Okay, so first of all, his version of "small-plot" is SO different from mine! We've squeezed in a 3'x 8' raised bed in our tiny yard...He thinks small plot is 3500 sq. ft or so! YIKES! Also, this book had a SHOCKING lack of pictures! As in, there were none! It had a few sketches but I would have expected a lot more visual help. It also seemed to have an East Coast slant...quite a few gardening books do. I'm sure this book will help someone (with an acre+), just not me.
At first I was disappointed to see there are barely any pictures in this gardening book. To me it was like a cookbook with no photos; but the more I poured through this I realized it wasn't at all lacking in great tips, witty quips and a strong opinion about gardening. I like Gilbertie's "I know what's best" attitude and even sans photos, it's easy to read with a helpful index. Great resource for this first-time gardener.
So this book has no pictures and the guy doesn't believe in mulch. I kinda couldn't get into it. Plus, no mulch? Seriously? He may be a good garden guy in Connecticut, but try that no mulch idea in Northern California and you will be in a heap o' trouble - water loss and weeds will ruin your best gardening intentions. There are better gardening books out there, especially geared towards my climate (Nor Cal, zone 9).
Not my favorite gardening book, but still contained great basic info. Other books I've liked more have included more photography (this book doesn't have any, other than some diagrams and a few graphics) and this book was all technical and didn't focus on the artistic side of gardening as much as some of the other books I've read recently.
Great resource for a beginning gardener. Includes a list of what to plant, when to plant it, garden layouts for different sizes (20 x 20 is the smallest size, though) and how to use compost to create healthy soil.
I will keep this in mind next year!
I will keep this in mind next year!
Excellent and in-depth discussion of how to maximize yield, including methods for sequential crop planting, starting schedules, and discussions of fertilization. A strong organic bias, which is nice. Lots of advice for beginners.
Complex. This would be great for an already experienced gardener who wishes to do a lot of reading on the subject. There are not many pictures at all -- and is laid out with more of a reading-style and not a reference-style.
This book was very helpful for the novice gardener. I thought the title was a bit misleading: the authors' idea of a "small plot" is much larger than my idea of one. But the information was useful and easy to navigate.
His example of even the smallest "small plot" is still larger than the biggest plot my community garden offers, but there's still plenty of good reference material in here.
Lots of good information.
Some good information, but small-plot is rather misleading, given that the smallest garden plan in the book is for 750 sq ft. (Our backyard is MAYBE 100 sq ft, and half of it is a patio.) There is a small section on container gardening, but that's about it. Otherwise it's a pretty good reference guide, with a lot of information on how to get the most production out of each individual plant.
This book had lots of great diagrams of garden plans, which pleases me. I will definitely be getting this book again before the springtime.
Very useful garden plans in the back.
Beginning gardeners can expect to learn the basics over a 3 year period. Start with easy varieties and soil improvement, add a little space or variety each year.
One rabbit : manure for 500 sq. ft. garden
Beginning gardeners can expect to learn the basics over a 3 year period. Start with easy varieties and soil improvement, add a little space or variety each year.
One rabbit : manure for 500 sq. ft. garden
I own a copy of this one. Really like the maps that layout the various gardens for you and include crop rotation information.
It seems that the whole secret to a great garden in bunny poop.
May 13, 2013
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